Travelers cautioned about potential further flight postponements due to worldwide computer system failure

Holidaymakers are continuing to face travel complications as airlines work towards regaining stability following a significant global IT issue.

On Friday, numerous flights were disrupted internationally after an unexpected software upgrade led to problems within Microsoft's Windows operating system. This incident resulted in widespread impact across several services. Hospital appointments were rescheduled, payroll systems temporarily halted, and television broadcasting was interrupted due to the outage.

Approximately 7,000 flights worldwide were affected on Friday, including 408 involving travelers in and out of the UK. As of Saturday at 10am, Cirium reported that there were 23 departures and 25 arrivals at Heathrow airport still experiencing issues within the UK.

The transport secretary, Louise Haigh, assured travelers that IT systems at airports are functioning as normal. She mentioned ongoing communication with relevant stakeholders while emphasizing no safety or security concerns linked to the outage. However, she also noted potential delays and a small number of cancelled flights for Saturday.

Long queues were reported by travellers at Heathrow Airport on Saturday, coupled with difficulties in checking-in at British Airways terminals. Similarly, Gatwick airport saw long queues as well. The Port of Dover's chief executive, Doug Bannister, mentioned the arrival of displaced air passengers and his advice to those traveling through busy days by sea from the UK.

The travel association Abta advised customers to stay updated with providers for any additional procedures they might need during this time. Train commuters also experienced delays and cancellations due to technical difficulties, particularly in London's Euston station on Friday night, which continued into Saturday morning at other train stations like Waterloo and Paddington.

Several US airlines as well as airports across Asia have begun their recovery process. By the afternoon of Saturday, flights were resuming operations with most check-in systems restored in Thailand's five major airports according to an official from Airports of Thailand. Atlanta Airport reported that it hadn't been directly affected but was working closely with its airline partners who were experiencing difficulties due to the outage.

India's largest carrier, IndiGo, stated on Saturday afternoon they had managed to resolve issues and restore normal operations after being impacted by the disruption earlier in the day. Meanwhile, AirAsia was still working towards restoring its departure control systems with manual check-in procedures in place at airline counters.

Despite global upheaval, certain European major airports such as Berlin were able to resume operations efficiently. The software update that led to this disruption originated from the US cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, which also reported issues with Microsoft Windows systems worldwide following their new system patch.

GP practices in the UK experienced difficulties accessing patient records and scheduling appointments while pharmacies were unable to access prescriptions due to system failures on Friday night. In response, the National Pharmacy Association's chair urged patience during service recovery at local community pharmacies over the weekend.